Bargain @ $2.99 in the US only for today only (March 27th) from Open Road Media as one of their daily newsletter deals (couponable/VIP discount-eligible at Kobo, and matched at all the other usual retailers):
The Damiano Trilogy by Locus Award-winning author R. A. MacAvoy (
ISFDB,
Wikipedia), who was also the 1984 John W. Campbell Best New Writer Award recipient, her fantasy trilogy set during a Renaissance Italy with overtly-appearing angels and witches, originally published by Bantam in the 1980s. I got these from Fictionwise years ago while they were still out from e-Reads (later acquired from ORM), and
found them a charming coming-of-age tale (though hopefully they've fixed the typos since then).
Omitting the blurbs for #2 & #3, since they contain significant character/plot outcome spoilers.
An alternate-history fantasy of faith and wizardry set during the Italian Renaissance from the author of Tea with the Black Dragon.
Discover three novels of magic—light and dark—from a winner of the John W. Campbell and Philip K. Dick awards.
In Damiano, our hero is Damiano Dalstrego, a wizard’s son, an alchemist, and the heir to dark magics. But he is also an innocent, a young scholar and musician befriended by the Archangel Raphael, who instructs him in the lute. To save his beloved city from war, Damiano leaves his cloistered life and sets out on a pilgrimage, seeking the aid of a powerful sorceress as he walks the narrow path between light and shadow, accompanied only by his talking dog. But his road is filled with betrayal, disillusionment, and death . . .
MacAvoy also has another ORM sale book for $1.99 which is available in Canada and has no definite end date (probably just until the end of the month):
The Book of Kells originally out from Bantam Spectra 1985 and placed 2nd on the Locus Awards for Best Fantasy Novel. This is a standalone time-travel fantasy bringing two modern characters to Viking invasion-era Ireland (approx 9th or 10th century Dublin, IIRC), and it's another one I bought and
read way back when and quite enjoyed and would recommend.
A contemporary couple journeys back in time to ancient Ireland in this delightful fantasy by the author of Tea with the Black Dragon.
John Thornburn is an artist, mild-mannered and nonviolent. To make ends meet, he teaches some courses in Celtic design. And although his background is half Micmac Indian, he lives in Ireland for two reasons: his far more confrontational and warrior-like girlfriend, Derval O’Keane, and his fascination with the beautiful illuminated manuscript known as the Book of Kells.
But he’s about to take a journey to a far more distant place, one that he could not have imagined. Along with Derval, John will find himself in an ancient Celtic realm, where a Viking attack begs to be avenged and a fantastic—and sometimes terrifying—adventure awaits . . .
From a master of magical fantasy, the author of the Damiano Trilogy and a winner of the John W. Campbell Award, this is a tale of warriors, love, danger, and Irish history that will cast a spell on anyone who dreams of discovering treasures in long-lost worlds.